Today is Fauré's birthday and a quick trawl for a suitable present turned up the following astonishing short film from Emile Vuillermoz, made in 1936 - from the same series as the Szymanowski Fontaine d'Arethuse movie we posted a little while ago.
The great French soprano Ninon Vallin (1886-1961) sings Fauré's early mélodie 'Les Berceaux'. The song's narrative of seafarers facing danger while their families left behind is gently yet powerfully visualised.
Happy birthday to 'The Archangel'!
3 comments:
Deeply odd, and somehow compelling. Thanks, Jessica!
My daughter's birthday is today also :)
Just parachuted in here by happy accident.
You might be interested to know that Fauré's harmonium, desperately moth-eaten and mouse-chewed at the last sighting, lies uncared-for in a house in Creissan (near Béziers) that used to belong to the French composer Roger Calmel (d.1998. It's sad that there's no one to put flowers on it to mark F.'s birthday.
Lovely, thanks!
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